Life is death and death is life

The past year had been a year of deaths that touched me not only outwardly. In February, my cousin died of cancer in Bicol. I had to leave my student attending the National Schools Press Conference in Baguio just to attend to attend the burial in Daet, Camarines Norte. That was my first time to go to Bicol - but what a reason to visit. We really thought of visiting him during the summer but he did not wait for us.

By the end of August, my father was murdered and robbed in Masbate. I was not really emotionally affected by his death since he left us since we were children. But, i was horrified by the way he was murdered. He was hog tied then was hurt with a pointed knife, afterwhich, he was shot in the eye. He did not die because he was shot but he died because of bleeding and because nobody took the heart to help him.

By the end of September, another woman in my life bade farewell. I had been planning to visit her but the short span of time i spent in baguio never allowed me to do so. i was so sorry when i learned that aunt rhoda bondad died. in a way, she had been a mother to me since she had been helping my mom in so many ways especially financial when we were still going to school.

Then another tragedy happened again in November. Another father to me died. Uncle Francis Buyagan who rode the Besao jeepney from Bontoc died on arrival at the Bontoc General Hospital when the jeepney they are riding fell upon a ravine along the Pegew Road. Whoever will see where they fell cannot truly explain what happened. There were other eight people who died either on the spot or in the hospital and one died later this january.

December did not leave us with no death. My cousin, the last first cousin i have in my father's side, died due to internal bleeding. We just reached Baguio to attend a cousin's wedding when the news reached us so the next day, we came back straight home. Good, we had a free ride from Baguio. We buried my cousin, Dante Degyawi, the brother of my cousin who died last February on December 31.

Then the tragic news of our batchmate zennia aguilan was heard. of all people, she was killed by a stray bullet when guards were trying to block the suicide bombers who were entering the serena hotel she was working at afghanistan. what a tragic way to die. she died so far from us. but i hope it will not just end as a death but i hope it will further bring us to realize the extent of the terrorism. she was the first death victim due to terrorism in Sagada, Mountain Province and in CAR.

Just after the fiesta, we were taken aback by the news that one of our students who had been missing for two weeks was found rotting already in "Baw-eng." We passed by Baw-eng last fiesta and sometimes a smell would overwhelm us but it never occurred to us that smell is a rotting body. He was directly brought to the cemetery. Whether it was really suicide or with a foul play, it is still to be investigated.

I hope March will come and go without any other unnatural deaths. My heart is already stoned with so many deaths that i don't know now what to expect. But life is here to be lived - let us live it always ready for the sting of death knowing that death is a door opened for us to enter heaven.

But, just as the sun comes up after it sets so will life sprout after death.